Provenance Data Models and Assertions: A Demonstrative Approach
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3.1 Data and Workflow Provenance
Since provenance signifies the origin or the source of something, a digital object’s
provenance is perceived as an ‘audit trail’ that exhibits details of both the data and
the process used to derive the object [12].
Provenance provides indications on data quality and its trustworthiness. Thus,
provenance is defined as the metadata about an Entity that informs the users about
the Activity, Agent, and Entity, involved in its production [7].
Researchers have suggested these two types of provenance:
• Data provenance
• Workflow provenance
Data Provenance
Provenance is used in many fields of applications like e- science, data warehousing,
etc. In such cases, provenance helps in developing the functional aspects and also
contributes towards its improvement. Provenance is used in these domains to know
about the origin of the data items. Data provenance in these cases helps in tracking
the source of the data item. Thus, data provenance of the data item consists of the
processes and the sources that led to the creation of the data item.
With the velocity at which the data is being used by processes and also consumed
by the software agents, provenance becomes necessary as it allows the users to track
the history of the data items that are residing in storage spaces and are available on
the internet data stores.
Scientists in the field of biology, chemistry, and physics use content that is amalgamated from various other data items. Researchers are thus interested in getting the
source of the data item and the processes that are part of the creation of data items.
It allows the researchers in determining the processes that led to the development
and transformations that were applied to the data item. This information is critical
as this helps in determining the quality of data and examining and reconsidering the
processes by rerunning the specific processes.
Data warehouses allow the data to be integrated from various resources and representations and helps in analyzing data items. Provenance helps in the analysis of the
data items by providing the information about the sources of data items and the
changes made subsequently to that data item.
Data provenance has gained wide popularity in workflow management systems.
Systems based on Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) are also using data provenance. Data provenance here helps in understanding how a complex computational
task was accomplished. It helps in determining the procedures that led to the creation
of a result from a computation [13].
Workflow Provenance
Workflow provenance is linked to preserving the track of the various processes that
transform a raw data item into a finished product by subjecting it to various activities
107
3.1 Data and Workflow Provenance
Since provenance signifies the origin or the source of something, a digital object’s
provenance is perceived as an ‘audit trail’ that exhibits details of both the data and
the process used to derive the object [12].
Provenance provides indications on data quality and its trustworthiness. Thus,
provenance is defined as the metadata about an Entity that informs the users about
the Activity, Agent, and Entity, involved in its production [7].
Researchers have suggested these two types of provenance:
• Data provenance
• Workflow provenance
Data Provenance
Provenance is used in many fields of applications like e- science, data warehousing,
etc. In such cases, provenance helps in developing the functional aspects and also
contributes towards its improvement. Provenance is used in these domains to know
about the origin of the data items. Data provenance in these cases helps in tracking
the source of the data item. Thus, data provenance of the data item consists of the
processes and the sources that led to the creation of the data item.
With the velocity at which the data is being used by processes and also consumed
by the software agents, provenance becomes necessary as it allows the users to track
the history of the data items that are residing in storage spaces and are available on
the internet data stores.
Scientists in the field of biology, chemistry, and physics use content that is amalgamated from various other data items. Researchers are thus interested in getting the
source of the data item and the processes that are part of the creation of data items.
It allows the researchers in determining the processes that led to the development
and transformations that were applied to the data item. This information is critical
as this helps in determining the quality of data and examining and reconsidering the
processes by rerunning the specific processes.
Data warehouses allow the data to be integrated from various resources and representations and helps in analyzing data items. Provenance helps in the analysis of the
data items by providing the information about the sources of data items and the
changes made subsequently to that data item.
Data provenance has gained wide popularity in workflow management systems.
Systems based on Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) are also using data provenance. Data provenance here helps in understanding how a complex computational
task was accomplished. It helps in determining the procedures that led to the creation
of a result from a computation [13].
Workflow Provenance
Workflow provenance is linked to preserving the track of the various processes that
transform a raw data item into a finished product by subjecting it to various activities